We had 312 people attend the event. But we had been planning for 500. This particular site and posting proved invaluable to me in regards to donations. I have been running auctions for 15 years now, and I learn something new every event!
We just had our Gala this past Friday. After 6 months of planning, collecting over 60 thousand dollars of in-kind donations, and organizing a 150 plus lot silent auction and 9 item live auction, I am glad to say it was a success! To top it off we were still arranging last minute donations and adding them to our silent auction. In fact, our last addition was from the Wheel of Fortune package, and it received our lowest bid of the night at $150. I think we just had so many unique packages that this one was ignored. Our silent auction only lasted 2.5 hours. I am still waiting for the final numbers, but I believe our silent auction raised 50 thousand, our live auction raised 42 thousand, and our raise the paddle raised another 20 thousand. Because we received over 87 thousand in table sponsor donations, and because our tickets were $150 per person, we are hoping to meet our goal of $200,000. I'm telling you, I worked so hard for this auction. I don't know how some schools raise over a million. I really don't.
My client in Miami last week started the bidding (silent auction) at $100 and I think it got two bids. It probably sold for ~$150. As a point of reference, that event isn't a particularly big spending crowd. And of course, the show is filmed in CA, so travel is involved for them.
